I suppose I was the only person in America who didn't know that Billy May's death was the day after a rocky landing on a US Air flight to Tampa. Of course, I learned that while reading today's paper on board . . . a US Air flight. Wonderful way to start the week.

WASHINGTON (June 18, 2009) Secretary of the Defense the Honorable Robert Gates, left, administers the Oath of Office to Secretary of the Navy the Honorable Ray Mabus during a ceremony at the Naval Support Activity Washington-Washington Navy Yard. Mabus, the former governor of Mississippi, is the 75th Secretary of the Navy. (U.S. Navy photo by Joseph P. Cirone/Released) (www.navy.mil)

The authoritative SCOTUSblog has an excellent, brief summary of the Supreme Court's ruling today in the Voting Rights Act case that presented the issue, among others, of whether Section 5 of the Act should be "nullified." SCOTUSblog reports:

With only one Justice voting to strike down Congress’s 25-year extension of the Voting Rights Act’s controversial Section 5, the Supreme Court on Monday interpreted the law in a way that saves it. The Court said that all local units of government must be given the option to bail out of the requirement that they get Washington approval for any changes in their election laws or methods.

And, he said, while the Court would not shrink from its duty to apply the Constitution to block “legislative encroachments,” the Court also was obliged to decide a case by interpreting the scope of legislation if that route is available as an alternative to striking down the law altogether. That is the option it chose.

My two cents: I can't agree with his assessment of "serious constitutional concerns," but Chief Justice Roberts kept his word on this one. If he continues to follow Justice Brandeis's version of judicial restraint, which requires the Court to give Congress the benefit of the doubt by interpreting laws so that they can be upheld under the Constitution, then the Obama Era will not be threatened by the Bush v Gore Court.

In short, it appears as though Haley is going to attempt to deny the existence of a deal in an effort to avoid having to take responsibility for a looming state government shutdown. In all honesty, Barbour wants the budget negotiations to fail, as he sees it as a way to amass power. According to Barbour, he can run state government via his fiat in the event a budget is not passed.

Barbour should know better. This game of budgetary chicken didn't work out well for the GOP during the Clinton Administration, and it won't work this time. Here's why: The general public, on a very instinctive level, views Democrats as the ones who support government services and Republicans as the ones who oppose them. As a result, the public can't envision Democrats willingly shutting the government down and ending state services. They can, however, see Republicans doing so. After all, Republicans get elected to office railing against "big government" and touting private sector alternatives. It's truly that simple.

And if Phil Bryant and Alan Nunnelee aren't careful, they're going to wind up the real casualties of this debacle. Barbour doesn't have to go before the voters of this state again. Bryant's running for Governor, and Nunnelee is setting up a Congressional run. The voters will not look favorably upon a government shutdown on their watch.